Monday, June 15, 2009

TNT's "Ponytail Express" Grinds To A Halt

Kyle Petty broke the news on Twitter. The "ponytail express" has been parked for this week. Petty and Rutledge Wood had been traveling between the NASCAR on TNT races in Petty's motorcycle. It is equipped with a sidecar which has been the location of Wood and his video camera.

Petty provided this information on Monday night:

Not riding to California. SORRY! FIRST WEEK OF CAMP! I wanted to spend time tomorrow and Wed with the kids. Haven't missed 1st week yet...

Rut and I are borrowing a bike out there and riding around Thur and Fri. NOT the same but still FUN. Please don't be mad at us...

Certainly, the activity of the Victory Junction Gang Camp comes first and always will. Unfortunately, that does not square with the information originally offered by TNT about this project. The idea was that the long trip between North Carolina and California this week was going to be the most interesting.

Plenty of fans have been following the exploits of this duo and were looking forward to maybe saying hello, getting a picture or just seeing them go through town. For many people across the country, this might be as close as they ever come to the NASCAR personalities they see on TV.

NASCAR.com has been posting a weekly video of the trips and both Petty and Wood have been sending Twitter messages and pictures constantly. On the last trip, the first NASCAR fans tracked them down using Twitter and got a picture. Wood said it made the day for both of them.

Petty started his big charity ride over a decade ago and has built it into a powerhouse of public relations and fund raising for the VJG Camp. That is why this idea was so appealing. Finally, a couple of NASCAR TV types putting their money where their mouth is and getting out into the real world.

Late Monday night, Wood confirmed that he and Petty will pick back up and ride from North Carolina to New Hampshire for the Loudon race. It was fun watching NASCAR fans talk to each other about this project, wonder what route the duo would take and then get excited from the pictures and messages sent along the way. Imagine, a good idea that was getting fans fired-up.

TNT may have a winner here. Perhaps, some careful expansion for 2010 might lead more fans to take a summer vacation, join these two maniacs and ride...all the way to the racetrack. Wonder what a "ponytail express" infield parking area would look like?

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I really was wondering how they were going to make this trip with one driver. Even with coming back today, they would have had to leave tomorrow to make it there by Friday. Plus Kyle said he was only packing clothes for Michigan.

I understand the reason why they are not doing this, so I'm not upset. As long as we get some adventures, I'm ok.

I too am okay with this! That would be a very grueling drive, and if there were problems or bad weather, there would be a real chance that Kyle wouldn't make the broadcast. And I think that his love and energy would be better served for Opening Day at the camp!

I've owned a Harley before and let me tell you I was truly wondering how KP was going to handle going from Michigan to California and then New Hampshire. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Motorcycling is a wonderful, relaxing thing to do. But that journey would almost have been impossible with that time frame.

I spent a short time in a sidecar when I rode with a friend going to a motorcycle race. To ride cross country in one would not have been fair to Rut. Those who ride long distances in one have my respect. The return to the Ponytail Express for the shorter trips is OK with me. I think it is a great idea and if they were in my area, I would be tracking them and trying to meet up with them. Kudos to TNT for the job they are doing with the races.